Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog » Michelle Vasuhttps://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba
Fuqua Weekend Executive MBA student perspectiveThu, 09 Jul 2015 19:49:41 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Nothing Stays the Same, Not Even in an MBA Program: Being Flexible & Trusting your Judgment are Keys to Successhttps://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/2014/01/23/michelle/nothing-stays-the-same-not-even-in-an-mba-program-being-flexible-trusting-your-judgment-are-keys-to-success/?category=about-fuqua
https://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/2014/01/23/michelle/nothing-stays-the-same-not-even-in-an-mba-program-being-flexible-trusting-your-judgment-are-keys-to-success/?category=about-fuqua#commentsThu, 23 Jan 2014 20:48:13 +0000http://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/?p=715If you are applying to business schools right now, you’ve probably written essays or spoken in interviews with some confidence about exactly why you want an MBA and what you plan to do with it. You also might have some idea of what you expect business school to be like and how you’re going to […]

]]>If you are applying to business schools right now, you’ve probably written essays or spoken in interviews with some confidence about exactly why you want an MBA and what you plan to do with it. You also might have some idea of what you expect business school to be like and how you’re going to approach it. Whether you’re certain about your vision or not, the truth is that once you’re actually in school, it’s likely to change. Before you panic, let me assure you that this is okay, even expected. If business school doesn’t change you, doesn’t make you a better leader or a more inquisitive person, then what’s the point of the investment? After two full terms of experience, I can say that Fuqua’s Weekend Executive MBA program is optimally setup to drive that change.

In this program, you have the opportunity to enjoy some achievements, but you never have a stable environment for too long. For example, unlike some other MBA programs, you don’t stay with the same study team through the whole program. This gives you the opportunity (and the challenge) of bonding and working effectively with a new set of classmates during the second half of the program. The challenges of each term are also different from a content, workload, and complexity standpoint.

Getting Comfortable Outside of My Comfort Zone

Those of you who have attended Fuqua admissions events with current students or recent alumni may have heard about the infamous Term 2 (which ended for me in November). After Term 1’s two relatively qualitative courses, we are launched into a term with 3 mainly quantitative courses. It’s quite a big step up in terms of the volume and complexity of work, especially if math is a distant high school memory that was only recently dusted off for use in the GMAT, like it is for me. Of course, I had also heard all about Term 2 before I started the program, and I thought I was mentally prepared to take it on. What I didn’t anticipate was my emotional reaction to it once I got there.

Initially, all I could do was complain about how hard it was. The first few weeks were miserable for me, and I wondered what I had gotten myself into. But then, one of my teammates told me, “Michelle, if you keep focusing on how difficult it is, then it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead, just do whatever you can do. Try your best, and let that be good enough.” I took his words to heart. Once I adjusted my attitude and started using the resources Fuqua provides, like my study team and the highly available professors, I started feeling and doing better.

When you’re in the thick of the term, it always feels as if everything is going way too fast. In the meantime, you still have your job, your family, and other commitments. Before starting at Fuqua, I had developed my list of priorities: school, job, family. However, I learned that this list has to be flexible, and the priorities will change constantly. The most critical thing I have learned is to trust my judgment on what is most important at any given moment. Sometimes I might decide that it is more important for me to relax with my husband than to catch up on my school reading or my work emails. This MBA program is more of a marathon than a sprint, which makes self-care key to avoiding burn out. I can tell you that I have never regretted making such decisions.

On the last day of classes for Term 2, the professors did a retrospective on all that we had learned. I realized that even as the time had zoomed by, I really had gained a lot of knowledge. My husband and friends observed that I act with more confidence in myself. I had also reached a comfort level with the rigorous Term 2 routine. But Fuqua doesn’t let you stay in this comfort zone for long. As I mentioned before, with Term 3 comes a new study team and a brand new set of challenges — my class just changed teams in mid-December. I’m still adjusting to some extent, but I know that with the tools I learned of maintaining an open perspective, being flexible, and trusting my judgment, I will meet these challenges and continue my growth throughout the rest of the program.

]]>https://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/2014/01/23/michelle/nothing-stays-the-same-not-even-in-an-mba-program-being-flexible-trusting-your-judgment-are-keys-to-success/?category=about-fuqua/feed0“Team Fuqua” is Not Just a Sloganhttps://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/2013/07/05/michelle/team-fuqua-is-not-just-a-slogan/?category=about-fuqua
https://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/2013/07/05/michelle/team-fuqua-is-not-just-a-slogan/?category=about-fuqua#commentsFri, 05 Jul 2013 21:15:10 +0000http://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/?p=561As a prospective student, I was very aware of the tension inherent in the relationship between prospective students and their prospective schools. Just like with job interviewing or dating, each party is trying to evaluate the other. In some sense, I found this comforting. The schools I was researching needed to market themselves to me […]

]]>As a prospective student, I was very aware of the tension inherent in the relationship between prospective students and their prospective schools. Just like with job interviewing or dating, each party is trying to evaluate the other. In some sense, I found this comforting. The schools I was researching needed to market themselves to me just as much as I needed to market myself to them. Every business school has developed its brand or unique identity and tries to communicate that to students through marketing materials, open houses, alumni events, etc. So, when I first heard about “Team Fuqua,” I interpreted it as mainly a marketing differentiator. Not that I didn’t believe the principles of Team Fuqua had been implemented in some form, but I imagined it to be limited in scope. I thought Team Fuqua just referenced your class and the faculty, perhaps also the program staff, being generally collaborative most of the time.

However, the more I’ve been exposed to the program, the more I’ve come to see that “Team Fuqua” is not just a slogan. It is a deeply held value that is shared by everyone connected with the school. My first Team Fuqua experience came at an open house I attended as a prospective student. At lunch, I discussed my interest in the Health Sector Management program with a current student, and he offered to introduce me to classmates pursuing the certificate. Lunch ended, he had to rush to class, and it didn’t happen. No big deal to me. The following week, I got an email from Weekend Executive MBA Admissions Counselor Andy Medlin, saying that a student had contacted him and asked him to connect me with the HSM students in his class. I didn’t connect this with Team Fuqua at the time. I just thought, “Wow, that guy was really nice.” It was just the first of many experiences where people have gone out of their way for me, because they care about representing the school well.

“Team Fuqua” is a Family

The amazing thing is that this value pervades the whole Fuqua support community. When I checked in for my first residency, the Thomas Center front desk clerk said, “Congratulations on joining the MBA program! What a great accomplishment!” While I had drinks with classmates at the Thomas Center’s bar, the bartender wanted to know all of our names. No, not because he needed to report us to campus security. He simply wanted to get to know us. Then, an alumni panelist at an HSM event spent half an hour chatting with me after the event, and emphasized that he was happy to keep in touch and answer further questions.

The program staff is also a visible part of our weekends, and they are quite engaged. Our program manager, Keith O’Hare, is always available. He and the other staff eat lunch in the same dining room as we do, so it’s easy to stop by and speak with them. Their high level of engagement is also clear. At a recent guest speaker event, I saw Keith sitting near the front and noticed that he wasn’t just assisting with event logistics; he was taking his own notes on the speaker’s comments.

Though I was impressed, I still didn’t quite understand why people at Fuqua go to such great lengths to be friendly and helpful. The answer came as I was checking out of the Thomas Center one Sunday. The desk clerk said, “Oh, so you’re one of our new students! I’m trying to learn everyone’s names and faces.” I told her how welcomed I’d felt by everyone and how I really appreciated their efforts. She smiled and paused a moment, searching for the right words to express her thoughts. “You’re part of our family,” she said, “We want you to succeed and we want to do whatever we can to help you.” No marketing flyer could sum it up better than that.

]]>https://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/2013/07/05/michelle/team-fuqua-is-not-just-a-slogan/?category=about-fuqua/feed0My MBA Becomes Realhttps://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/2013/06/21/michelle/my-mba-becomes-real/?category=program-insight
https://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/2013/06/21/michelle/my-mba-becomes-real/?category=program-insight#commentsFri, 21 Jun 2013 20:06:17 +0000http://blogs.fuqua.duke.edu/weekend-mba/?p=543On the night before the first day of orientation, after frantically packing half my closet into a suitcase and driving for three and a half hours through the rain from Charlottesville, Virginia, I found it impossible to sleep. Since I was admitted to Fuqua in November 2012, I’ve had plenty of time to anticipate this […]

]]>On the night before the first day of orientation, after frantically packing half my closet into a suitcase and driving for three and a half hours through the rain from Charlottesville, Virginia, I found it impossible to sleep. Since I was admitted to Fuqua in November 2012, I’ve had plenty of time to anticipate this week. So much time, in fact, that the idea of actually starting the program seemed less and less real. Now that I was lying in my bed at the Thomas Center, I had the same feeling in my stomach that people have on a roller coaster when it pauses at the top of the first climb. You are all strapped in, about to drop 200 feet into your new adventure, and there’s no way to stop and get off. You just have to hang on and go with it.

At 34, I never expected I would decide to go to graduate school. I probably would not have done it if it weren’t for my husband, who started his own executive MBA program at another school last year. He convinced me that earning an MBA would have a significant impact on my career, as a result of both the academics and networking with classmates. Since I am committed to a career in the healthcare industry, it was important to me to find a program with a strong healthcare concentration available. After learning of Duke’s Health Sector Management (HSM) certificate and speaking with program director Cindy Seymour, I knew it was right for me. The timing also could not be better. With no kids (or pets or plants … except for a very resilient and often neglected lucky bamboo), I have space in my life for the program. My husband going to school at the same time is also an advantage; we both understand the challenges we are facing and can support one another.

What if No One Likes Me?

At the first MBA breakfast, I could see that everyone else was just as nervous as I was. Although we are all adults, the atmosphere reminded me of the first day of elementary school. Everyone seemed to wonder, “Will anyone want to sit with me? What if no one likes me?” The Thomas Center’s tables are set up perfectly to resolve this situation. Each table is round and has 8 or 10 seats, and there aren’t enough tables for everyone to spread out. You just have to find an available seat and jump into the conversation, which oddly seems to make it all easier.

As orientation week continued, I found myself becoming more open to getting to know my classmates and approaching people I hadn’t met. “Networking” is a term that has often intimidated me, since I tend to be a bit shy in group settings. But in this case, the orientation activities and structure, combined with my own desire to commit to the program, helped me overcome my hesitation.

The week is filled with tons of information packed into a short time, but the Weekend Executive MBA support staff constantly remind you that they are there to guide you. When we finally got into our first classes, I knew I had made the right decision in joining Fuqua. Everyone was buzzing with excitement, ready to show their knowledge and their pre-reading preparation, which led to very lively class discussions. I thought to myself, “This is really what we are here to do.”

As the week wrapped up on Saturday afternoon, I felt a little sad to leave and disappointed that it was not possible to say “bye” to everyone I had met. Many other people must have felt the same, because my LinkedIn account is very active with connection requests from all of my newfound friends. I can’t wait to come back for our next residency and pick up where we left off.